Drawing development in children

Children love to draw. As teachers and parents, we encourage our children to express their feelings through aesthetic engagement like drawing. While children are enjoying themselves, adults may feel a bit lost. We may ask ourselves, "Should I draw with them and show them how they should draw a star properly?" "My daughter is 3 years old already, should she be able to draw a portrait?" "At 6

The very hungry caterpillar and his friends

Eric Carle's picture books are so popular among playgroups and kindergartens.  We may not have befriended with all of Mr. Carle's creations, like the Mixed Up Chameleon or the Foolish Turtle; and not all of us has traveled to The Mountain that Loved a Bird; but most of us should be quite familiar with what happened to The Very Hungry Caterpillar!  (Find the complete list of book by visiting the

Picasso Fun~

Three Musicians (1921) - Pablo PicassoEveryone knows about Picasso; he was the pioneer of the cubism movement in the early 20th century. Personally, I don't particularly fancy cubist artwork (because I find the paintings too "crazy."), but I can't deny that it is quite fun to look at them sometimes - objects are broken into pieces and re-assembled in an abstract form - which makes me feel like

Cloud Dreamers

WHAT DO YOU SEE? 

I see a spaceship.  I see a the head of a dashing dinosaur opening his mouth.  I see a chubby bird.  I see a drowning sheep.  What do you see?
Cloud-watching is such a relaxing pastime, isn't it?  I can spend a whole afternoon watching clouds changing shapes as they calmly float by (usually I'd grudually fall asleep).  If you have children with you, such afternoon wouldn't be

An Apple a Day

Not only is "apple" the first chapter in a traditional alphabet book, I believe it is possibly the first object of still life drawing to many children. People like drawing apples because they are cheap and handy. (and we can eat it when the drawing is finished. =p) Although I didn't have much talent in painting, I do remember myself drawing fruits as a child. I would always start with drawing

Degas and Dancers

Though I don't know much about Edgar Degas (1834-1917), I've always loved his series of paintings on (ballet) dancers. Apparently, he lived during the time when ballet was one of the most popular form of stage art in Paris; there's no wonder that he has developed such an obsession on this topic.Here's a few from the series which I find very intriguing; they represent the road to become successful

POP ART artist #2- Andy Warhol

This is the series "Ice Cream Dessert" created by Andy Warhol in 1959. I hope children would like it as much as I do!


Red Pink and White



Red and Pink



Purple Fancy



Fancy Red



3 scoop


One of Warhol's famous work is the "mass-produced" images from photographs of celebrities.  You may be interested in playing the colour of Andy Warhol's Marilyn Prints.

Also, the official Warhol site

TATE GALLERY UK sponsored by BT Group

Tate Gallery is a modern art gallery in the UK. Its four galleries are the home of British art from 1500 to present day. The galleries also hold frequent exhibition of modern British art; its website has been used as a plateform for internet arts exhibits.Tate Kids is part of the outstanding Tate Online project sponsored by the BT Group (British Telecommunication company). This online learning

Andy Goldsworthy: a brilliant environmental-artist/sculptor

I fell in love with Andy Goldsworthy's art work when I first saw it in a creativity class I attended some time ago. When he creates, he experiements with various natural materials, such as stone, grass, flower, feathers, snow and clay. Since his work is "mortal", he would use photography to capture them. In fact, the wearing away of the product is part of the projects.Many schools have included

High Art for children - is this too much?

This painting is by painter Jacob Jordaens (1593-1678). Its title is inspired by a Flemish proverb "As the Old Sang the Young Play Pipes." Do young children need to know about these facts when they look at this picture? - No. Then is this an appropriate painting to show young children? - Ya, why not? Sometimes, we are intimidated by fine art. We're afraid that we may not be in any position to

The magical kaleidascope

Do you recall seeing these images when you were a child? The kaleidascope used to be one of my favorite toys. To me, as a child, looking into a kaleidascope was like looking into a magical world. The construction of this toy is so simple, yet the many images, which one kaleidascope can produce, are so complex and fascinating. During a visit to Bali last year, I saw a delicate kaleidascope which

幼兒與藝術

我很鼓勵家長送小朋友上畫班或手工藝班。即使是未懂走路的小孩子﹐他們正出於一個觸角非常敏感的階段﹔父母可以開始讓他們碰碰顏料﹑膠水﹑泥膠等不同物料。

其實坊間很多幼兒藝術班正為孩子提供這接觸藝術的機會。但每當我看到街上那些剛剛懂走路的小孩一臉茫然捧著他們的“製成品”﹐我都會覺得奇怪。他們拿著的可能是一隻用紙碟製成的小雞﹑一架用“廁紙筒”造的私家車﹐甚至是一隻跟他們身高差不多的海洋生物。我們都知道﹐這些製成品只是滿足成年人的道具 - 兩三歲的小孩子需要的不是一件製成品.

藝術是一種反映人們對世界的認知的渠道﹐對小孩子亦然。幼兒的創作不需要原因﹑不需要結果﹑更不需要方法。紙碟和小雞﹑廁紙筒和車﹐在小孩子眼內可能根本沒有直接的關係﹔這些製成品只反映成年人的創意(而且是不高的創意)。你放一張白紙﹑一些顏色筆在孩子 面前﹐他們會認真地畫﹐他們要一筆一筆地證明顏色筆與白紙的關係﹔說到這裡﹐

孩子哭了

最近在Youtube找到一條片段﹐急不及待跟學生分享。片段來自一個烏克蘭的節目 (Ukraine's Got Talent)﹔一位擅長用沙粒作畫的藝術家在表演。在時而激昂﹑時而幽怨的音樂下﹐一盤平平無奇的沙粒在八分鐘的表演內變成一幅幅會說故事的連環圖。表演的尾聲﹐畫家在沙上寫了一句我不明白的烏克蘭語﹔亦寫了一句令我明白故事背景的四個亞拉伯數字 - 1945 - 她要說的是有關戰爭的故事﹔第二次世界大戰對烏克蘭來說﹐是黑暗的歲月。這一段歷史﹐別說對我的小一﹑二學生﹐對我來說﹐也完全陌生。雖然我在學生播放前有過一絲猶豫﹐怕話題太深奧﹐小孩子不能明白﹐但是我還是選擇播了- 第一個原因是我想告訴他們知道創意不應受環境限制﹔哪怕一無所有﹖剩下一雙手和一堆沙﹐人們都沒有停止創作。第二﹐背景音樂很出色﹐整個表演觀賞度極高。影片開始﹐孩子們凝望著熒光屏﹐看著那盤散沙慢慢變成一副漂亮的圖畫。

Shidonni - draw a pet, bring it to life~~

Shidonni is a cool site - I had fun playing it. Children can draw anything onto that board and it'd turn into a "pet" which would move around. You can even assign an animal sound to your pet.I've registered to it with the blog's e-mail. You may wanna login using the following username and password first, before you register for it.Name: teacher-monicaPassword: creativityHave fun~

Cool iphone widget

Scenario:Your right hand is holding your child's hand, he/she is whining about feeling bored in the MTR; your iphone is in your left hand. What do you do? Do you have enough cool widget handy to keep your kids occupied? (in a fun and educational way - popping virtual bubble wrap is NOT one, obviously.)Check this out:The application is inspired by the famous Jackson Pollock website:Even Steve Jobs

INTERACTIVE ART GALLERY sponsored by HSBC

Many times, artists avoid being "commerical." Some extreme advocacy spreads the notion that making any connection to the commerical and business world pollutes the artistic industry.As a music educator, I don't agree with this at all. Many world-class corporates are aware of the responsiblities of corporate citizenship. They provide funding to support different creative projects and artistic

Online arts galleries for children (UK, USA, CANADA)

Visual art was never my favorite subject; now I regret that I didn't learn to draw. Although I don't have the skill to analyse the techniques used behind paintings, I like looking at paintings at art galleries. When I visit museums abroad, I realize how a lot of them has resources for children available. Those little guide books usually include child-friendly games and assignments that trigger